An Indian judge today issued arrest warrants for Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty for contravening the country's public obscenity laws by
embracing and kissing at an Aids awareness event, a report said.

Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the north-western city of Jaipur following an official complaint from a member of the public about the display of affection last week between the 57-year-old Hollywood star and Shetty, 31, the Press Trust of India reported.

Last week, the judge subpoenaed television footage of the event.

Crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Gere after he enveloped Shetty in a hug on stage at the event in New Delhi before leaning forwards exaggeratedly and planting several kisses on her cheek.

Photographs of the clinch were splashed across front pages in India, where public displays of affection are generally taboo, despite the sexually suggestive song and dance routines used in the Bollywood films which made Shetty famous.

Gere has already left India. However, he has previously been a frequent visitor to the country, often visiting Tibetan exiles in the northern town of Dharmsala as a supporter of their cause.

If convicted of public obscenity he theoretically faces up to three months in prison, a fine or both.

Shetty, who became famous in Britain through her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year, appealed for calm after the incident, telling reporters that Gere had asked her to say he was "sorry if he has hurt the sentiments of Indian people".

Earlier this week, she accused parts of the Indian media of being "highly irresponsible" in making such a fuss of the kiss.

The organiser of the event at which the embrace happened, Parmeshwar Godrej, said the controversy "detracted from and undermined the value and success of the event, which was concerned with creating Aids awareness and promoting Aids prevention".

India has the largest number of HIV-Aids cases in the world, with 5.7 million people infected, according to the UN's Aids agency.